Book Title: The Collision of Grief and Gratitude: A Pursuit of Sacred Light
Author: Rosanne Liesveld
Category: Adult Non-fiction, 468 pages
Genre: Self-Help, Death & Grief, Grief & Bereavement
Publisher: Illuminatio Press
Release date: May 16, 2017
Tour dates: July 16 to Aug 10, 2018
Content Rating: PG (The subject of loss is explored and some of the emotions may be too raw for young children.)
Book Description:
Day 209
"And so each day goes; the grief and the gratitude fighting for the bigger spot in my heart. The tug of war between these emotions exhausts me most days. If you see me in the grief mode, you'll think I'm a wreck. But if you see me in gratitude mode, you'll think I m doing well. Neither is 100 percent true. I am what I am most days, leaning toward finding more gratitude than grief as the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months."
After the unexpected death of her husband, Rosanne Liesveld felt a desperate need to communicate gratitude to those who helped her through the shock that death left in its wake. The day of Curt's funeral, Rosanne wrote a Facebook post expressing how, in the midst of profound grief, she found a space in her heart for gratitude. The next day, she wrote another post; then another.
Rosanne's daily posts throughout her first year of widowhood attracted hundreds to follow along on her journey. Her words inspired those who were not only grieving in some way, but those who wanted to build stronger relationships or live life with more intention and gratitude. It was messy. It was raw. And it was healing.
Rosanne's posts have been compiled into this 366-day journey and are accompanied by beautiful photos taken by Curt.
To follow the tour, please visit Rosanne Liesveld's page on iRead Book Tours.
Buy the Book:
Meet the Author:
As a coach and teacher for more than thirty years with the Gallup Organization, Rosanne has helped people discover and lean into their strengths. She now speaks to groups about how to build stronger relationships, and live life with more intention and gratitude.
Connect with the author: Facebook
Author Interview:
Rosanne Liesveld is the author of The Collision of Grief and Gratitude. After the unexpected death of her husband, she felt a desperate need to communicate gratitude to those who helped her through the shock his death left in its wake. A few days after Curt’s funeral, Rosanne wrote a Facebook post expressing how, in the midst of profound grief, she found a space in heart for gratitude. The next day she wrote another post, and then another.
Rosanne’s daily posts throughout her first year of widowhood inspired not only those who were grieving in some way, but those who wanted to build stronger relationships and life live with more intention and gratitude. It was messy. It was raw. It was healing.
Today she answers some of our questions.
Q: This was an “accidental” book. Tell us about the process of creating The Collision of Grief and Gratitude.
A: About ten days after my husband died, I felt a strong second wave of grief when I realized I just didn’t know how I would ever thank the people who had helped me in those first difficult days. I could hardly remember who they were, much less thank them properly. About the same time, my son suggested that I some point I might want to look at Facebook, where people had posted some powerful words to both my husband’s page and to mine. The thought came that perhaps I could just get on Facebook once to say thank you to some people, so I did that. I also read the beautiful notes of support others had posted.
As I lifted my fingers from writing that first post, I felt a huge sense of relief and peace. So, I decided to write a second day. And a third. And the writing became my therapy and my way to connect with people. My son often said he felt better knowing that even though I alone in my home, I had so many people “out there” supporting me and responding to my posts. After about six months of posting, many people began urging me to put the posts into something more permanent, but it wasn’t until almost a year in that I gave the idea of a book any serious thought. As with so many things, it was with the words and encouragement of some very dear and important people that I made the decision to put the book together so that others might have some way to live life more fully and intentionally.
Q: What kept you writing a new post day after day for more than a year?
A: After those first few days of thanking people, I realized what power there was in the gratitude I was feeling. So, I chose to not just look for people to thank, but for any moment of gratitude in each day, no matter how difficult that day had been.
Q: Did you edit your posts as you wrote them?
A: No. Unless I had a word that was totally unreadable, I purposefully didn’t try to correct typos or grammar. I had a mother who was quite a grammarian, so there were times I cringed because I knew she would cringe, but I wanted the words to be authentic and not in any way feel contrived. I also wanted the words to flow and I felt stopping to correct things would change the whole tenor of the writing.
Q: What were your fears about writing a book? What were the risks?
A: Putting my writing into a book had far more risks than I ever imagined. Of course, there is always a financial and time investment, and I underestimated both of those! But even more was the emotional risk. I was so fearful of what I thought people might think of me. I was afraid people would think I did this to make money from the death of my husband. Or to get my name out there. Or that I’d be judged for being too public with my feelings. I heard many people intimate that even as I wrote the posts, so I was even more paranoid about putting them into a book. At some point, I had to get over all those things, yet I’m not sure I really have.
Q: What are three things your wish readers knew about you?
A: I’d like to have influence on those not going through grief as much or even more than those going currently going through grief.
I’m probably more of a teacher than a writer, and no doubt my teacher talent influences my writing.
I have Futuristic as my No. 1 strength on Clifton Strengths and often get a picture of the future in my head and heart that is almost impossible to get out!
Q: What are three things you wish readers knew about your husband Curt?
A: He was accomplished at so many things, yet he always said his greatest accomplishment was his marriage.
He had extraordinary ability to make the complex simple.
He didn’t worry about running out of anything. In order words, he did not live in a scarcity mind set, but believed living and giving generously made it so one did not run out of anything.
Enter the Giveaway!
Ends Aug 18, 2018
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